Haiti: One year report

On 12 January 2010, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the nation of Haiti, the most powerful quake to hit in more than 200 years. The impact and aftershocks were devastating.

One year ago today, a devastating earthquake rocked Haiti. Today, the World Vision family around the world celebrates relief accomplishments made so far, prays for the years ahead, and remembers those whose lives were lost. Wherever you are today, please pray for those in Haiti who are working tirelessly to provide children and families with shelter and other necessities, and for those whose memories of the earthquake are still raw and painful.

The following is an excerpt from a letter from Kevin Jenkins, President and Chief Executive Officer, World Vision International

World Vision’s response to the earthquake began immediately. Many of our colleagues were victims themselves and were struggling to find their families in the rubble. Nevertheless, enough were able to respond that we had our first distributions within 24 hours.

Today, in addition to the development work we have been doing for 30 years, we are providing post-earthquake emergency relief reaching hundreds of thousands of families in five regions across the country. Activities range from a combination of child protection, health, education, water, sanitation and shelter services down to single activities, supplying water or building latrines. We have begun work to get people’s livelihoods back on track, making them more resilient to future shocks, while helping youths and children engage in rebuilding their country.

We invite your partnership on this journey and, along with the people of Haiti, we covet your prayers for the successful rehabilitation of a land whose time for good news has come.

One-Year Haiti highlights

With support from generous partners like you, World Vision accomplished the following on behalf of Haiti’s most vulnerable survivors in the critical first year following the earthquake:

• 81% of the population lacks access to adequate sanitation and 42% lacks access to safe water

• 86% of people in rural communities live on less than $2 per day

• Only 1 in every 50 Haitians has a steady, wage-earning job after the earthquake

• 40% of children do not attend school

• 380,000 children are without at least one parent; of those, some 50,000 are orphans

January 2010

• Three million people are affected,1 including 1.5 million children and youths under 182, out of a population of 9.8 million

• The earthquake leaves 222,570 dead and 300,572 injured

• More than one million people are left homeless

• 105,000 homes are destroyed and more than 208,000 damaged

• 52% of households are food-insecure; one-third of households have lost their entire food supply

• An influx of displaced people into rural areas puts an unprecedented level of strain on rural households, decreasing their standard of living and leaving them more vulnerable to external shocks such as sudden price increases